Katniss and Her Darcy
by oywiththepeetaalready
Summary: The already legendary love story of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark intertwines with Austen's everlasting tale of Pride & Prejudice. Darcy/Elizabeth centered. Originally for PiP AU Week: Legendary Romances.


Katniss Everdeen was already considered an old maid.

At twenty-one and the second oldest in a family of five girls, the world expected her to be married, or betrothed, by now.

But Katniss Everdeen never had any interest in a man.

She was fiercely independent, more intelligent than most other females and preferred long walks with her older sister Madge over the company of any man. She was one for adventure, for debate, for dancing. She enjoyed meeting other people over playful conversation in ballrooms yet never expected anything to come of it. Nor did she want anything to.

Until the day she met Mr. Mellark.

Mr. Mellark appeared with his friend, Mr. Hawthorne, and Hawthorne's sister, Posy. He was surprisingly cold, rather aloof and hardly spoke a word to anyone. His counterpart in Mr. Hawthorne was unquestionably the opposite. Hawthorne was gregarious, to say the least, made sure to address each person he encountered in the most pleasant way possible and gladly led a few affable ladies out for dances.

Madge was one of those lucky females.

She found herself instantly charmed by the pleasant Mr. Hawthorne, noting the handsome, somehow shy yet outgoing personality (talking to everyone, yet never about anything of substance) and the not unattractive fortune that came with his person. Upon hearing that the party planned to stay at a home mere miles from the Everdeen estate, Madge had to control her joy. Mr. Hawthorne did no such thing and a smile lit up his dark features at the knowledge that this lovely woman he had become so quickly taken with would be close by.

Mr. Mellark, during this entire party, spoke only to members of his own party and only danced with Posy Hawthorne, who was equally quiet and seemingly, for lack of a better description, stuck up. When Mr. Hawthorne was enthusiastically addressing the general beauty of the ladies in the room, Mellark quickly shot his excitement down, claiming the Ms. Everdeen that he had been dancing with was the only lovely one there, and even she was plain.

"But her sister is equally lovely," protested Hawthorne. "Katniss Everdeen is extremely intelligent. She'd be quite interesting to you."

Mellark scoffed. "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me."

Katniss, standing nearby within earshot, hid her hurt and turned to chat with friends and neighbors, attempting to put the rude gentleman out of her mind for the time being. Too bad he was handsome.

The weeks continued in this manner. Katniss watched her sister fall more and more in love with the gentle Mr. Hawthorne. She herself had a slight dalliance with an infantryman but never believed it would grow to anything beyond smiles and charming words. Katniss had many more cold encounters with the enigmatic Mr. Mellark. While he was never outright rude, she never could understand his off-putting demeanor. She often attempted to draw him out, teasing and provoking, yet failed each time. She soon decided to stop inciting the angry gaze of Posy Hawthorne with every attempt to speak to Mellark.

Soon after, the party left town without warning. Madge was devastated; her "friend" Posy had brusquely informed her that their return to London was due to some business and a hopeful visit to see Primrose Mellark, Mr. Mellark's sister, who both gentlemen sincerely dote upon. She obviously hinted she someday hoped to call little Prim sister, but failed to explain if she meant through marriage between herself and Mellark or her brother and Primrose. Madge struggled with the news greatly and took to London to divert herself and spend time with her beloved aunt and uncle.

With Madge gone, Katniss found the house nearly intolerable and jumped on the chance to see her friend, Delly Collins, who was married to Katniss' cousin (who had a back story with Katniss that would have to be explained at another time). She quickly left home to spend a month or so with Delly.

The time passed in a sea of reading and chatting. The trivial distractions were exactly what Katniss found she needed. She was able to dress simply without having to worry about potential suitors, she could keep her dark hair in either a bun or a braid and could debate and entertain herself as she pleased. She found yet even more reassurance that she could be happy as a single woman.

When the Collins family took Katniss to visit the adjacent manor of the wealthy Lady Effie de Trinkette, there was an event that threw ripples through Katniss' content, simple visit. Other than Lady Effie's clearly condescending manner of looking down on Katniss' upbringing and personality, the dinner date had one more shock.

Lady Effie had her nephew over. Her nephew, who was none other than Peeta Mellark.

Mellark made a very confusing show of being glad to see Katniss. Without meaning to, Katniss found herself being moderately polite to the handsome gentleman. She had other encounters with him on various walks around the grounds and somehow found herself warming a bit to him.

Then she found out he had been the reason for Mr. Hawthorne leaving her sister. That Mellark had objections "to the lady and especially her family". Suddenly, her positive take on the man had turned for the worst.

She, after spotting him on a Sunday after a church service, quickly went outside, ignoring the rain pouring down around her until she reached a shelter some ways away. She caught her breath, leaning against a wall. She started, hearing footsteps on the ground coming towards her.

Katniss turned and came face to face with Mr. Mellark, water dripping from his blonde curls, panting at the exertion it had taken to catch up with her. After some minutes of tense silence, Mellark blurted out, "Miss Katniss. I have struggled in vain and I can bear it no longer. These past months have been a torment. I came to Rosings with the single object of seeing you... I had to see you. I have fought against my better judgment, my family's expectations, the inferiority of your birth by rank and circumstance. All these things I am willing to put aside and ask you to end my agony."

She looked at him, confused. "I don't understand."

"I love you. Most ardently. Please do me the honor of accepting my hand."

Katniss felt her stomach turn over. Marriage? After all of this? After all she knew he had done? After all the objections he had clearly stated? No. Not possible. She quickly ended the conversation with a terse rejection and minute explanation of her objections and ran out again into the rain.

Within the week, she got a letter from him, most mysteriously delivered, explaining his logic and reasoning behind everything she had objected to in reference to him after his proposal. He did, in a sense, apologize for causing her sister's unhappiness but showed no regret to acting upon his judgment, something she found herself admiring in him. The letter caused more feelings to jumble up within her. If she had known all of this information prior to his proposal, would she be an engaged woman currently? He was handsome, with dark golden curls that hung down his forehead, blue eyes that sparkled when engaged in some form of debate and a well-built physique that no woman could deny was attractive. He was intelligent, taught by a, no doubt, private tutor and seemed well-learned overall. He was witty. He was wealthy. When beneath the surface, he had an oddly fascinating personality.

He made her head hurt. And now her heart.

After a rather tearful farewell with Delly, Katniss found her return coinciding with that of her sister. Gratefully, she closed herself off from her family and inquired after her sister and her trip. They had a long evening of catching up and relished in one another's company.

The next morning, their aunt and uncle, fresh from dropping Madge off at home, mentioned they were going to go on a shorter journey through the parkland not far off, inviting Katniss to join them, knowing of her love of the wilderness outside of the English village she lived in. At Madge's urging, she agreed to go.

A week or so into the vacation, her family decided to visit Pemberley, Mellark's estate, and at their insistence that Mr. Mellark was not at home currently, Katniss agreed to visit the home she had heard so much about.

The manor was beautiful, no question. She could see elegance in every aspect of it and admired it greatly. She found herself admiring a pianoforte in an abandoned room when she caught sight of the supposedly absent Mr. Mellark. Ashamed, she ran out of the home, Mellark in pursuit. "Miss Katniss!" he called, trying to get her to stop.

She quickly turned and began stuttering out apologies, shocked when she looked up and saw a smile spread across Mellark's handsome face. He carried on a surprisingly cordial conversation before remarking that her aunt and uncle must be worried about her and leading her back to where he had last seen them. He left them after inviting them over the following day for supper, insisting that Katniss must meet his sister, Primrose.

The next day proved to be a rather odd success. The food was delicious as she had expected. The other rooms she was presented were equally as beautiful as the ones she had seen the day before. What she hadn't expected was how absolutely lovely Primrose was. Fair haired and skinned, the young girl was beautiful, shy, well-spoken and intelligent. Against her well, Katniss found her completely taken and somehow instantly protective of the young lady. When Mellark took her uncle to fish on his stocked pond, she found herself admiring Prim's skills on the pianoforte and enjoying conversation with her and her aunt.

She left Pemberley with an odd, yet happy feeling inside of her. She didn't let herself think about the fact that the afternoon was a perfect example of the life she had given up. When Mellark had seen them safely to the inn they were staying at, Katniss was met with a messenger announcing that her younger sister had eloped with the aforementioned infantryman and had yet to be found. Upon falling into slight hysterics, Mellark excused himself quickly after expressing his condolences and offering his assistance in any way possible. Before Katniss went into planning mode, she felt her heart warm slightly towards the man who was so above her but honestly wished to help her family for some unknown reason.

After the dust had settled from the nightmare that had been her sister's whirlwind marriage and she had departed with her beloved husband, Katniss let herself breathe again. Her breathing was cut short by a sudden visit from Mr. Hawthorne and the man who had been occupying her thoughts most often as of late.

The two gentlemen had a brief but civil visit that sent the women into a tailspin upon their departure. Madge immediately sat down with a blush coloring her face and Katniss, though her joy at seeing Mr. Mellark was entirely internalized, allowed herself a moment of elation for her sister's happiness.

The happiness was for good reason, as merely a day later, Hawthorne showed up, requesting a private audience with a Miss Madge Everdeen. When he left many hours later, the two were engaged and unable to stop smiling.

The happiness came to a quick stop at a visit at an unseemly time of night by one Lady Effie de Trinkette. She had heard of her nephew's visit to the Everdeen home and was determined to know if he had proposed marriage to this female who was clearly far beneath him. When Katniss refused to deny that any such proposal had occurred and also declined to promise that she would never accept a proposal of marriage from him if it should occur, Lady Effie left in a huff, presumably to her nephew to force a similar promise out of him.

To compose herself after the unwelcome visit the night before, Katniss wrapped a shawl around her and walked out into the foggy dawn, no destination in mind, just trying to clear her mind. Across the field she was in, she spotted a dark shape moving towards her. A feeling in the pit of her stomach made her believe she was safe and she continued walking toward the figure. After a few minutes, the outline of the person proved to be who she wanted it to be.

Mellark.

She moved towards him and when they were close, he grasped her hands in his own. Smiling down at their joined hands, she remarked how cold they felt. She thanked him briefly but sincerely for the help she had recently learned he had given towards making her sister's elopement a successful and discrete affair.

He smiled softly down at her. "You must know... surely, you must know it was all for you. You are too generous to trifle with me. I believe you spoke with my aunt last night, and it has taught me to hope as I'd scarcely allowed myself before. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me forever. If, however, your feelings have changed, I will have to tell you: you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on."

Katniss couldn't contain her smile. She leaned her head against his chest and murmured, "And I, you."


End file.
